Uniting hazy sonic tales with sweet melodies and powerful lyrics, Joya Mooi has carved out an idiosyncratic hybrid of soulful R&B and dream pop, embodying stories from her past and present. Born in exile to a South African father and a Dutch mother — the singer’s parents met in Angola while her father was in exile — and growing up in the Netherlands, music helped a young Joya Mooi mitigate and deal with feelings and issues of not entirely “belonging”. Although classically trained in Jazz, Joya Mooi’s sound leans more towards alternative neo-soul and R&B, falling in the same sonic space as artists such as American-British singer/songwriter Celeste and Ego Ella May; similar in some ways and feelings, however, not the same. “I might have studied Jazz but in the last 10 years, I’ve been navigating into an electronic, soul and R&B kind of sound. The sound in my next project is very fluid and intuitive,” says Joya Mooi. The artist’s musical practice is rooted in a devotion to sharing her own honest take on the world and contributing towards imagining a more just future. Mooi is perhaps most well known for her EP Blossom Carefully, featuring songs about freedom and spirituality which was released in October 2020 to a great reception from fans and critics alike with Vogue Netherlands writing: “Once in a while, you come across them, those natural talents who breathe and radiate music. The 29-year-old Joya Mooi is one of them.” In praise of the musician.
“Remember” artwork by Marina Coenen
Photograph by Aristos Iatrou
I know it’s late
But I’m pleased we are
Speaking again
I swept and I’ve got
everything sorted
How slow the pace
We set apart
All the sense and
Emotion got me
Thinking
Sings a husky-honey toned Joya Mooi on her new single “Remember”, released with an accompanying music video directed by Bob Sizoo and Najim Jansen. Music of transcendence is how she thinks of her work, hoping it touches people and fosters connections beyond all manner of boundaries. “Remember”, places centre stage Mooi’s enchanting vocals and the sophistication of her technical abilities, the single also sees her reflect on words of wisdom shared decades before us. Sharing more about the song she expresses:
When I was writing ‘Remember’ I was thinking a lot about the reckoning that a lot of thinkers, writers go through with their recipients. Thoughts that seemed revolutionary in the past, were hardly actually listened to, and are now part of our collective memory, part of our IG quotes and referred to in pop culture. I’m intrigued by how works are received, how much our current time dictates to what extent we can listen. I try to hold work I love close…that’s kind of easy. But this song reminds me to be open to any idea, because even when some things may sound ‘radical’, I might welcome it with open arms in a few years…but it may need attention now.
Photograph by Aristos Iatrou
